Holy boomtown fruit bats live it up

HOLY fruit bat, it's not just a flying fox colony at Widgee Crossing these days, it's Gotham City.

Mayor Mick Curran was relaxed this week about the flying fox boomtown next to the Gympie's Widgee Crossing sewage treatment plant.

They weren't hurting anyone down there, he said.

The bats, loved and hated with almost equal measure by humans, are an impressive sight along Widgee Crossing Rd.

Their long-term hangout, well known to Gympie residents, has now grown from one tree to several, on both sides of the road.

The amazing creatures are not universally held in high regard, however.

A pest for fruit growers and blamed for all manner of dangerous illnesses, they nevertheless have friends who advocate netting of fruit trees and point out that domestic dogs kill more Australians than any bat-borne disease.

MP Bob Katter outraged conservationists with a call for the removal of "laws which place more importance on protecting bats' rights than human lives".

Conservationists have argued that bats are an essential agent of pollination for many native trees.

A bat conservationist told The Gympie Times bat colonies in urban areas followed on from destruction of bushland.